Happy New Life?
by MariaBlue4863
Summary: Seventeen years after Olaf's death, the Baudelaires and Quagmires' lives all change for the better. Sunny is off to college, but there's a twist: Quigley is one of her teachers! But there's more: she encounters Esmé's son! Will this happy new life end?
1. Happy Home

It had been seventeen happy years since Olaf's death and the Baudelaires and Quagmires' misfortune. The minute they arrived back at the city, Baudelaires' first and original hometown, Justice Strauss, who I'm thrilled to say had survived the fire at the Hotel Denouement, adopted all six children. Instead of living in her lovely house. the kind-hearted judge hired some of the original architects of the Baudelaire mansion and they all moved in. The large library was filled with new books that the children and judge collected and furniture that was bought with some of the money Violet finally inherited. For the Quagmire children, Isadora roomed with Violet and Duncan and Quigley roomed with Klaus. Also, thanks to Violet's inheritance, she, her siblings, and their friends managed to go to a great school, one without horrible little girls like Carmelita Spats didn't exist. By time Violet was in high school as well as Isadora, Duncan, and Klaus were in middle school, they all became boyfriend and girlfriend. Quigley was hurt, but he knew that he shouldn't interfere with his brother's wonderful relationship. Sunny, by now, had quit biting people and objects.

Violet and Duncan both agreed to get married after they both graduated college as did Isadora and Klaus. Unfortunately, by time Violet turned twenty-two, Justice Strauss died in a case involving a serial killer, who, by the way, was sentenced to live in prison for rest of his life for killing a judge in court. Violet knew that she couldn't abandon Sunny after their truly better guardian had died. So, instead of moving into another house, Violet and Duncan stayed at the Baudelaire mansion until Sunny was old enough to take care of herself on her own. However, Quigley decided to leave, wanting to find where it was that he really belonged. Klaus and Isadora soon followed suit and stayed at the Baudelaire mansion. When Violet was twenty-seven, she gave birth to a happy, healthy baby girl who she called Beatrice, in memory of her deceased mother.

The real story begins when Sunny is packing up for college. "Sunny!" called out Violet. "Hurry up! We need to get on the road now!"

"I'm coming, Vi! No need to get agitated!" bellowed back an adult Sunny. She came out of her room and headed downstairs, lugging two suitcases.

"Let me help you with that!" cried Duncan, rushing up the stairs to help his young sister-in-law.

"It's fine, Duncan," Sunny said. "I got them."

"Oh, no, you don't!" Klaus said, who had entered the room and also hurried up the stairs to help with the suitcases.

"What's with you guys today?" laughed Sunny. "You're acting like I just dropped a glass vase." There was a shattering noise after that statement.

"Oh no!" cried Isadora in the dining room. " I just dropped a glass vase!" Violet rushed in dining room with a broom and a dust pan.

"Isadora, let me clean it up," she said.

"No, no, Violet," Isadora said. "I appreciated your concern, but I created this mess and I'll be the one who cleans it."

"But you're pregnant!" Violet said. "You shouldn't bend over or do anything that involves your belly!"

"But Violet-" whined Isadora.

"Isadora dear," Klaus said, "let Violet take care of it."

"Okay," said Isadora. Duncan and Klaus finally got Sunny's suitcases down the stairs and they and Sunny walked in the dining room, noticing Violet on her knees with the dustpan in front of her as well as the broom and Isadora standing beside her. They grabbed five clear glasses, the other two were for Violet and Isadora, and served themselves some water.

"Vi! Is! Get in here!" Duncan said. Violet stood up and she and Isadora walked over to their husbands and the youngest Baudelaire.

"Wait," Violet said stopping. "Beatrice needs to get down here." She cupped her mouth and yelled, "!" The five-year-old girl skipped down the stairs and into the dining room.

"Yes?" she asked in a sweet high-pitched voice.

"Come in here," Duncan said. "We're prosing a toast to Aunty Sunny." The little girl walked forward and took a smaller cup of water.

"A toast to Sunny!" Klaus said, bringing up his glass. "May she have a wonderful experience at Hartville College!"

"To Sunny!" everybody else cheered, clanking their glasses with each others. All, but Beatrice drank the water.

"Aunty Sunny's leaving?" she asked. Everybody all looked at her; they had forgotten to tell her the news. Now poor little Beatrice starting sniffling.

"Oh, don't be so sad, little Bea," Sunny said, patting her niece's head. "I'm not leaving forever."  
"Yes, you are!" Beatrice said, crying now.

"Beatrice dear," Violet said, "Aunty Sunny's just going to college. It's nothing to be upset about." Beatrice stopped crying/  
"What's a college?" she asked.

"A college is a place where people go if they want to make sure they get a good job, Bea," Sunny said. "I'll still come to visit you and Mommy and Daddy and Aunty Isadora and Uncle Klaus and, maybe," she said, whirling around and patted Isadora's large belly, "even the new cousin."

"Bea, isn't it time for your afternoon nap?" Duncan said.

"Oh! It is!" she squeaked. She gave Sunny her cup and ran up the stairs to her room. Sunny walked over to the sink and poured out the little water and put the cup in the dishwasher. She turned around and froze; everybody was staring at her with such big, sad eyes.

"Why's everybody looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Seventeen years ago, you were a little baby," Isadora said.

"And now," sighed Violet, "you're a woman."

"Time sure flies when you're growing up," Klaus said.

"Um, you're acting as if I've been _your_ baby all this time," Sunny said uneasily.

"Well, we've all thought of you as our little sister, Sunny," said Duncan.

"Really?" asked Sunny in pure surprise. Everybody nodded. Sunny's eyes filled up with tears and she rushed and hugged her older siblings and siblings-in-law who also cried with her.

"Now," Violet said, drying her eyes, "we need to go." She, Sunny, Duncan, and Klaus all walked to the front door, picked up the suitcases, and walked to Violet's car. They put the suitcases in the back and Sunny climbed into the passenger seat. "You ready to leave, Sunny?" Violet asked. Sunny paused for a moment and then nodded.

"Yeah, I am," she said. Violet turned on the engine and it purred. Sunny turned her head to see Duncan, Klaus, and Isadora waving at her, which she returned as well as a smile. She also saw Beatrice waving at her from her bedroom window. Sunny smiled bigger and she waved even harder. She would miss her happy home, but she couldn't wait to arrive at college.


	2. Nutty Neighbors

Sunny and Violet had very little unloading to do when they found her dorm. The bed was already made, the dresses were empty inside and on top, and the wardrobe was filled with bare hangers. Violet helped get Sunny's bags in her dorm and gave her the money Sunny entrusted her as well as the dorm key and her phone number. "Um, Vi?" Sunny said, confused.

"Yeah?" Violet asked.

"Why did you give me the house number?" her sister asked.

"I want to know every excitable detail about how your college life turns out," Violet said with a smile. Sunny just stared at her older sister in confusion. "I know it sounds corny, but I can't think of any other way to deal with you being here at college. Neither could anybody else." Sunny's eyes filled up with tears again and hugged her sister tighter than before.

"Thank you," she said in between sobs. "I appreciate all you and everybody have done since Justice Strauss's death." Violet herself began crying. After a few minutes of hugging and crying, Violet and Sunny let go of each other. "Well, I suppose I should let you get back home," said Sunny.

"Yeah," Violet said. "If you need anything, anything at all, just give me a call."

"I will," Sunny said with a smile. Violet left the dorm and walked out, taking out her car keys. Sunny closed her dorm's door and flopped on her bed, sighing. "This is the life," she said softly. "I create my own rules, do whatever I want to do, and even decide what I eat and when I eat it." She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep for an unknown amount of minutes. Suddenly, she heard a series of knocks on her door. She jumped up and said in a cheerful voice, "Who is it?" There was no response. "Hello?" she asked, opening her door. She looked left and right to see if somebody had ducked around the corner as if to play a prank on her. Then, she looked down and saw a trail of toothpaste caps in front of her door that looped around one of the corners. She grabbed her dorm key and followed the trail of caps. She went straight, left, right, right again, left again, and ended up at dorm room 39. She knocked on the door and said, "Hello? Um, is this you toothpaste cap trail?" The door opened slightly, and then it was flung open with a screaming brunette.

"SUNNY!!!!!" the girl cried after she was finished excitingly squealing. This girl was Martha Ayesha, one of Sunny's friends. Sunny stood there in pure shock and broke out into a smile.

"Martha!" she yelled. She laughed and hugged her friend. "Oh my gosh! Are you going to school here, too?"

"Yeah, I am!" Martha said.

"I didn't see you here!" Sunny cried.

"_I_ saw you, but you didn't see me!"

"Aw, I'm sorry," said Sunny. Martha smiled.

"That's okay," she said. "That's why I created this toothpaste cap trail because I knew you'd get curious to see who made it." She and Sunny hugged again. "Hey! Why we go to your dorm so we can talk?"

"Why can't we talk here?" Sunny asked with a laugh.

"My neighbors are already freaked out," Martha said, pointing to her left and right. Sunny looked both ways and saw girls with shocked expressions on their faces like they have their neighbor screaming bloody murder. Sunny laughed nervously.

"Ayesha," one of the girls said, "could you keep your screams down? We don't want our dorm advisor to come up here and think somebody was killed when it was just your screams of excitement."  
"Sorry, Rachel," Martha said with a nervous smile. "Can we go to your dorm please before I get a bad reputation?" Sunny smiled and nodded. "Hold on for minute. I'll go get my dorm key." Martha closed her door and grabbed her dorm key. They followed the toothpaste cap trail and Martha picked up every cap along the way. She used toothpaste caps because Sunny wanted to grow up to be a dentist (ironic, huh?) since she was fascinated with teeth.

She and Martha had arrived at Sunny's dorm, she took out here key, unlocked the dorm and the two girls walked in the dorm. "So how are Violet and Duncan?" Martha asked.

"They're fine," Sunny said. "I did tell they had a daughter, right?"

"No, you didn't!" cried Martha with excitement. "What's her name? How old is she? What's she like?"

"Okay, okay, calm down!" Sunny said. "Her name is Beatrice Quagmire, she got the name in memory of our mother, Beatrice Baudelaire; she's five years old; and she's an adorable girl who cares a lot about the people around her and is curious about everything she hears about or sees."

"Aww! She sounds like a sweetie pie." Martha said with a sad smile. "What about Isadora and Klaus?"

"Isadora's pregnant," Sunny said.

"No way!!!" Martha screeched.

"Yeah, yeah!" Sunny said, covering her ears. "She supposed to be due possibly between Thanksgiving and Christmas."

"Wouldn't it be so cool if their child was born on Thanksgiving?" Martha said.

"Mart," Sunny said, "why do you thi-" A knock was heard at the door. "I got it." Sunny got off her bed, walked over to her door, and opened it. "Hello?" she asked. "If this is some sort of joke, then forg-"

"BOO!" a redheaded girl shouted, jumping in front of the door. Martha and Sunny screamed. The redhead girl was Emily Grace, the one friend of Sunny's who enjoyed scaring her friends. It took them a moment before the recognized their cruel friend who was dying of laughter after her little scare.

"Emily!" Martha cried.

"I thought we told you never to do that again!" Sunny yelled.

"I'm sorry, guys," Emily said, "but your faces were priceless!" She cackled again.

"Get in here!" Sunny snapped, pulling Emily in her dorm.

"Now explain why you scared us!" Martha said. Emily stopped laughing.

"How else was I gonna greet my best friends?" she asked. "It's been a few months and I haven't seen you guys since the last day of school."

"You could have called us," Sunny said.

"My phone's line is dead," Emily said.

"You could have drove to our houses," Martha suggested.

"All the cars were stolen. We only have one now," Emily said. There was a pause before Emily smiled sadly. "I know that's no reason to scare you guys like that," she said.

"No duh!" Martha said. She and Sunny both went up to Emily and hugged her.

"We _are_ glad that you're here, though," Sunny said.

"Really?" asked Emily.

"No, she's just pulling your leg," Martha said sarcastically. "Of course she means it. dummy!" After their moment, they all pulled out their class schedules. "So for my first class, I have health," began Martha. "What about you guys?"

"I got the same class!" Sunny cried.

"Ditto!" Emily cheered.

"Wonderful!" squealed Martha. "Let's see. I have literature for my second class."  
"Got it," Sunny said.  
"Same here," Emily said with a smile.

"Excellent!" cried Martha. "Biology?"

"Yep!" cheered Sunny.

"So have it!" hollered Emily. Biology was Emily's all-time favorite class.

"Perfect! French?" Sunny's face fell.

"Uh, I have Spanish," she said.

"I have German," Emily said.

"Well, rats!" cried Martha, snapping her fingers angrily. "We won't have languages class together!"

"We know!" chorused Sunny and Emily. For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, the three friends talked about other things like what they did over the summer, what's gone on with their families, and even a few movies they watched. It was about eight o'clock when Sunny's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hi, Sunny!" Violet's voice rang.

"Oh, hi, Violet!" cried Sunny.

"Violet's on the phone?!" squealed Martha. Sunny nodded.

"Violet, I have a few people who want to say hi to you," Sunny said.

"Okay," Violet said. "Put them on." Sunny removed her cell phone from her ear and placed it between Martha and Emily.

"HI, VIOLET!!!!" screamed both of them. Sunny put her cell phone back against her ear.

"Oh, my gosh!" Violet said. "Emily and Martha are there, too?!"

"Yep!" Sunny said. "I just found out today."

"That's so cool!" Violet cheered. "I'm so glad you'll have your friends with you for college this year!"

"I know!" Sunny said. "How's Isadora and Bea?"

"Isadora's fine," Violet said. "Beatrice is fine, too. She hasn't cried since I dropped you off."

"That's good to know," Sunny said with a smile. "Well, when you get the chance, tell her I love her and I miss her."

"Awww!" Emily and Martha chorused.

"I sure will," Violet said.

"Okay," Sunny said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."  
"Bye," Violet said. Sunny closed her cell phone and turned back to her friends.

"Well, what should we do now?" she asked. Emily and Martha thought long and hard. They didn't have much left to talk about now since they talked the whole afternoon away for the past few hours.

"Should we get something to eat?" Emily asked. Martha and Sunny looked at her. "What?" she asked. "I can't think of anything else. Plus, I'm hungry."

"Well," Martha began, "I _did_ skip lunch. I guess it'd be okay to grab dinner." Emily and Martha turned to Sunny.

"Oh, okay," she said after a pause. "Let's go." Sunny grabbed her dorm key, a green jacket, and walked out of her dorm. She, Martha, and Emily ate dinner at Carmella's Café, a fancy little café that serves all sorts of dishes such as spaghetti and meat balls, spiced flounder, and New England clam chowder, which cost less than the regular restaurants you've ever been to. The waiters there all seemed to be fond of the three girls since they kept checking up on them every ten minutes and addressed them with such fondness. Emily had ordered a medium meat lovers pizza for herself, Martha ordered fettuccine alfredo with clam strips mixed in, and Sunny ordered tomato soup with a side order of a grilled cheese sandwich. After they were done with their meals, they all shared a banana split. When it was eleven o' clock, they all said their goodbyes and went to their dorms. Sunny crawled into her bed, dreaming sweet dreams about what her wonderful life of college would be like.


	3. A Forgotten Face

Sunny woke up at 9:15 AM the next day. She took a five minute shower; put on aqua-colored khakis and a sandy shirt; grabbed her dorm key, money for lunch, and a flaming-red backpack; and headed out the door. She met up with Emily and Martha and they all walked to the building that contained their first class. "...gone until one in the morning," said Emily as she and her friends walked into the classroom.

"Wasn't he in trouble for staying out that long?" Sunny asked.

"Of course he was!" cried Emily. "That's what he got for missing his curfew!"

"Well, Trevor needed to be taught a lesson anyway," Martha said. "Right or wrong, Sunny?" Sunny didn't answer. "Sunny? Hellooo?" Martha asked, waving her hand in front of Sunny's face. "What are you looking at?" she queried, standing in front of her friend. Sunny turned Martha's face around to show her a handsome man who was leaning against the assumed professor's desk, reading _A Tale of Two Cities_. His dark hair was smooth and black, and his wide eyes were intently focused on the pages.

"Ooh!" Emily cried. "Sunny, you're so crushin' on the teacher!" Sunny's face turned bright red.

"_He's_ the teacher?" she cried.

"Yep," Martha said. "Mr. Quagmire." Sunny's eyes widened; did she just say Quagmire?

"Sunny, isn't your brother-in-law's last name Quagmire?" Emily asked.

"Oh, yeah," Sunny said. "The only other person I can think of with the same last name is Quigley, but we haven't heard from him in nine years."

"Well, you should ask what his first name is," Martha said.

"Maybe," Sunny said, "but what if-" She stopped herself when she saw Mr. Quagmire looking at her and started walking over to her and her friends. Sunny tried to hide her smile of possible hope, but she couldn't and that caused Mr. Quagmire to smile.

"Good morning, ladies," he said, stopping in front of them.

"Good morning, Mr. Quagmire," Emily and Martha said. Mr. Quagmire kept his eyes fixated on Sunny.

"Not a word from you, Miss Baudelaire?" he asked. Sunny's eyes widened.

"How did you know my last name?" she asked. Mr. Quagmire laughed quietly.

"No need to worry," he said, patting Sunny's head. "I couldn't help, but overhear your first name. I know I only have one Sunny in my class so it was easy to identify who you were." Sunny gazed at him with surprised eyes, as if she was trying to say, "I don't believe you". "I can tell you're doubting that," he said.

"I-I-I-I never said that!" Sunny said, backing up. Everybody stared at her as if she were growing three heads at once.

"If you hang around the halls after 9:45, I'll have to count you absent, Ms. Baudelaire." Mr. Quagmire said, glancing at his bronze watch on his left wrist. Sunny did so and found three spare desks for herself and her friends to sit at. Mr. Quagmire smiled and said to the rest of the class, "Greetings, everyone. Welcome to health class. I'm Professor Quagmire."

"Hello, Professor Quagmire," murmured the class.

"Now before we begin, I have a pile of health books waiting on that table and when I call your name, you will tell me the number inside your book. I don't want to have missing health books this year," said Mr. Quagmire, eying one of the upperclassmen behind Emily. Row by row, students picked up the nicest looking books they could find and left those tattered tomes to the rest of the students. However, when Sunny was about to pick up a frayed book, Mr. Quagmire stopped her. "Take this," he said, handing her a nicer-looking book.

"Oh," Sunny said with a side blush, taking the book out of his hand. "Thank you." He gave her a smile and wink before heading back to his desk. There was just something about this man that seemed so familiar and yet, she couldn't think of another person that was exactly like him. She headed back to her desk, her head drifting in and out of her daydream of her and Mr. Quagmire sitting at a beach whilst watching the sunset. Sunny's head was resting beneath Mr. Quagmire's chin and her hand was running through his dark hair. She smiled and let out a slight giggle, unaware her friends were focusing on her amorous behavior.

"Lenard Squalor!" rang Mr. Quagmire's voice. Sunny's smile vanished and her happy thoughts reverted to its former state; a dark, sinister world that never seemed to end or change when Esmé Squalor and Count Olaf haunted her dreams every time she closed her infant eyes. She almost lightened up when she saw a tall handsome twenty-one-year-old man stood up and walked up to the desk, holding a slightly naked and torn book open in front of Mr. Quagmire. Martha looked at her frightened friend and her face was filled with an equal distribution of surprise.

"What's the matter?" she asked. Sunny looked around her and leaned forward, cupping her mouth.

"Please tell me he didn't say Squalor!" she whispered.

"Wasn't that the name of the woman who chased you and your siblings most of your first year alive?" Emily asked.

"Yes, but Esmé never had any children," Sunny hissed.

"Could this be her nephew?" Martha asked.

"I don't know!" cried Sunny. The students around her, Mr. Quagmire, and even Lenard stared at Sunny in surprise as if she said something during a silent movie. She blushed and said, "Sorry, everybody." As if nothing happened, the other students resumed their regular chatter and Mr. Quagmire continued his book check in reverse order. However, the only person who was still focused on Sunny was Lenard. She carefully examined Lenard's face and she gasped softly. He did look a lot like Esmé, but with masculine features. What happened next surprised Sunny greatly. Lenard gave her a simple smile, winked, and blew her a kiss. Sunny screamed and slammed her head hard on the desk.

"What's the matter?" Emily yelled. Sunny suddenly lifted her up, anger and horror visible in her eyes.

"He's flirting with me!" she hissed. "I think that boy actually likes me!"

"Well, maybe that's a good sign," Martha said. "At least there's someone close to your age that you can crush on without getting in trouble." Sunny jerked her head in Martha's general direction, showing her friend the horror trapped in her eyes and written on her pale face.

"A good sign?" she shrieked. "That man is the son of Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor, the woman who tried to kill my siblings and me just to get our fortune!" The hair on the back of Sunny's neck stood up when she felt air whoosh inside her ear. She whipped around to see Lenard hovering over her, smirking. She leaned back, her face paling even more. He gave her another wink and headed back to his desk. Sunny felt something rubbing against the back of her neck and reached back to see what it was. Her eyes grew even more when she saw that the object was a piece of paper with Lenard's number. She gave a cry of frustration and flung herself onto the desk.

"Sunny Baudelaire?" Mr. Quagmire called. Sunny looked up to see concern written on Mr. Quagmire's face as he gestured to her.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to disrupt anything. I was just-"

"No, it's okay," Mr. Quagmire said. "I just going to ask you to come up to my desk to give me your book number."

"Oh," Sunny said, blushing. "Yeah." Sheepishly, she stood up, picked up her book, and walked towards Mr. Quagmire's desk, opening the book in front of it. Mr. Quagmire looked at the book number and scribbled down it next to Sunny's name. Sunny noticed the way Mr. Quagmire had written the students' name and book number. She only knew her sibling-in-laws to write the way Mr. Quagmire had. She thought maybe this man would be...

She shook her head; what was she thinking? If this person really was Quigley, she would have figured it out by now. Mr. Quagmire looked up at her, gave her a charming smile, and said, "Thank you, Miss Baudelaire. That will be all." Sunny returned the smile at her teacher and then frowned when she turned around and walked, or should I say hobbled, back to her desk. The sight of Lenard's face reminded Sunny of her life of a one-year-old baby again, living in fear of being caught and killed by a notorious fiend and his girlfriend whose only interest with Sunny and her siblings was their fortune their parents left for them when Violet became of age to inherit.

Sunny sat back at her desk and slouched forward on her desk and placed her head inside her arms. Emily and Martha stared at their friend in surprise. "Uh, Sunny? Are you okay?" Martha queried.

"Kill me," Sunny said, her voice muffled.

"What?" asked Emily startled. Sunny lifted her head, her face looking sickly pale.

"Kill me," she whispered. "Kill me now."

"Why would we do that?" Martha gasped.

"I feeling like I'm revisiting my past and it's very unpleasant," Sunny said. Emily and Martha couldn't help, but pity their friend. They knew she had the worst possible past anybody could have. They had no idea how to console her in her despair except to pat her and tell her everything would be alright.

The rest of the period went by fast, but Sunny still didn't feel any better. Sunny's main concern was Lenard, who reminded her so much of Olaf and Esmé, kept checking her out despite the fact he saw her react in horror. When the bell rang, Sunny leapt to her feet and left the classroom, but stopped when she Mr. Quagmire's voice: "Miss Baudelaire, please stay after class." She turned around and walked towards Mr. Quagmire, ignoring the looks she got from Lenard, Emily, and Martha as they passed her.

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Quagmire?" she asked.

"Sunny, do you have a problem with Lenard Squalor?" Mr. Quagmire asked. Sunny's eyes widened.

"No! I don't know what would make you think that I have a problem with him!" she exclaimed. Pretending her reaction didn't sound so disgusted and shocked, Mr. Quagmire laughed.

"Relax, Sunny," he said. "Take it from me. I _know_ what Lenard's like. He's been held back for two years now."

"Really?" Sunny asked slightly surprised. "Why?"

"He says he has no reason to continue his college life. Since he was a baby, he was raised in an orphanage most of his life," Mr. Quagmire said.

"You mean he was an orphan?" cried Sunny. Maybe she was wrong about him being Esmé's son.

"Not exactly," Mr. Quagmire said. "His parents, well, his mother, put him in the orphanage a few weeks after he was born."

"Let me guess," Sunny began. "His mother was Esmé Gigi-"

"- Geniveve Squalor," Mr. quagmire said simultaneously with Sunny.

"How do you know that?" Sunny asked. Mr. Quagmire sheepishly grinned. Sunny knew he wouldn't tell her and decided to get back to the original topic. "So what else do you know about him?"

"There was a girl that Lenard liked when he was seven years old that eventually moved away and was never seen or heard from until ten years later," Mr. Quagmire continued.

"What? Do you mean she died?" asked Sunny.

"Worse: she got married," said Mr. Quagmire. Sunny began feeling bad Lenard; she had no idea that he had an outrageous childhood. She thought she might have to make it up to him somehow. "But I think he might be coming out of the shock." Sunny looked up at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Mr. Quagmire laughed light-heartedly.

"Don't act like you don't what I'm talking about," he said. "I know he's starting to like you." Sunny groaned quietly. "Come on. Why don't you give him a chance? Who knows? Maybe he'll turn out to be a nicer person than he appears to be."

"Okay," mumbled Sunny. It wasn't until the second bell rang that Sunny came back to reality. "Oh no! I'm late for literature! And on the first day, too!" she cried.

"Sunny-" began Mr. Quagmire.

"This is terrible! I don't have my car here and my class is in the next building! I'll never be able to get over there in time!" interrupted Sunny.

"Sunny-" Mr. Quagmire said again.

"How will I get over there and get by so easily?" Sunny screamed. "I don't know if the teacher is nice enough to let this slip."

"Sunny!" Mr. Quagmire yelled, grabbing Sunny's shoulders. She immediately silenced herself when she saw the frustration in her teacher's eyes. "It's okay. I'll drive you over there."

"Are you sure?" Sunny asked. Mr. Quagmire nodded. "That's so nice of you. But what about your next class?"

"I don't have another class until third period," Mr. Quagmire said. "That's plenty of time for me to drive over to the English Hall and back." Mr. Quagmire offered Sunny his arm and asked, "Shall we?" Sunny smiled, took her teacher's arm, and walked out of the classroom. Sunny then realized who her teacher really was.

"You're still as kind as usual, Quigley," Sunny said.


	4. An Enamored Enemy

The moment Sunny saw Quigley's car, she nearly jumped back in surprise. She had no idea that he had purchased a caramel-colored convertible after he left his siblings and their spouses. So many questions started buzzing around her head and she desperately craved them. "Crave" is a word which here means, "wanting to know what Quigley had been doing with his life since he left". For example, did Quigley live near the Baudelaire Mansion? Would he be willing to spend time with Sunny so they can catch up on the events in their lives? Was he dating someone?

Sunny froze; did she think what she just thought? She shook her head, trying to forget the last question. "Sunny?" questioned Quigley. She turned her head in his direction, seeing an amused smile play with his lips.

"Y-Yes?" she asked.

"Are you feeling okay?" he inquired. Sunny blushed; he must have seen her acting like a total idiot. How embarrassing!

"O-Of course," she replied. "How have _you_ been for the past ten years?" Quigley laughed softly.

"I figured you were going to ask me that question," he said. "I've been well. I moved into an apartment not too far from the mansion after I left."

"You did?" Sunny exclaimed. Quigley stared at her in surprise. Sunny gasped, sank in her seat, and whispered, "Sorry." Quigley laughed light-heartedly.

"Don't be sorry," he said. "I'm glad I have this opportunity to talk to you. I know it's nothing like it used to be when we were younger. We can't talk about schoolwork or crushes or anything else like that without one confusing the other."

"Do you have a crush on anyone?" Sunny asked abruptly. Quigley blinked a few times, startled by her question. Sunny blushed and looked down. "I meant after you graduated high school." Quigley smiled sadly at her young sister-in-law.

"I wish I could say yes, but I can't," he said. "I've never found the right girl for me during or after high school. To be honest, I don't think any of the girls would like me."

"How could you say that?" exclaimed Sunny. "There are plenty of likable qualities you have! You're smart, funny, creative, compassionate, cute-" Sunny stopped and stared at Quigley whose eyes seemed wider than usual. Sunny's face reddened even more as she desperately tried to come up with a good excuse. "I'm just saying. If I was a girl who _wasn't _your sister-in-law, those are the qualities I'd like about you." Quigley sighed and looked out his door's window. Sunny noticed a hint of pain in Quigley's dark eyes and gasped. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you! I was just-"

"It's okay," Quigley said. "I understand." His car came to a stop in front of the literature hall. "Here we are," he said. "I'll see you later."

"How about tomorrow night at 5:45?" Sunny blurted out. Quigley looked at Sunny in surprise, his face turning pink as did Sunny's. "Uh, that is if you want to catch up with my life and me with yours," she mumbled. Quigley snapped out of his shocked state and smiled.

"I would love that," he said. Sunny gasped and smiled; it wasn't like she had developed a crush on him or anything of that matter. "Shall I meet you after your last class? What is it by the way?" Sunny unzipped her backpack, pulled out her schedule, and quickly looked over it.

"Uh, history!" Sunny said.

"Then I will meet at the history hall," promised Quigley, unlocking the doors. "You'd better get in there. I don't want to keep you from your class." Sunny nodded and got out, holding onto her bag and schedule.

"Thanks for the ride, Quigley!" she said as she pulled herself.

"It's Mr. Quagmire to you, Miss Baudelaire!" Quigley mockingly yelled. Sunny laughed and ran inside the building. She sighed happily once she found her room on the first floor on her second right and patted her rapidly beating heart. Wait. Rapidly beating? Oh no! She wasn't falling for Quigley, was she? _For shame, Sunny!_ screamed her conscience. _How could you fall for a teacher thirteen years older than you? Get a grip on reality, you stupid girl!_ Now feeling depressed, Sunny entered her Literature and was surprised to see how rambunctious her class was. "Rambunctious" is a word which here means, "Sunny's classmates throwing paper balls around the class, talking, and drawing pictures on the blackboard not worth mentioning while there was no teacher present". Sunny looked around frantically, trying to find her friends and hopefully, not Lenard.

"Well, well, look who decided to show up," cooed a familiar and undesired voice in her ear. Sunny gasped, whirled around, and saw Lenard hovering over her, a sly smile on his face. "You're such a brazen girl for ditching class," he said, leaning down towards her. Sunny's face turned a dark pink.

"I-I-It wasn't like that!" she said. "I-I-I-I-I had to talk to-" Lenard placed a finger on her lips, silencing her.

"It's okay," he said. "You don't have to explain yourself, you bad girl." He lifted her chin up with his thumb and smirked. "I like girls like you." Sunny groaned, pushed Lenard away from her, and started walking away. Unfortunately, and I've never used this word in such a long time, Lenard followed after her and trapped her between his body and a desk. "Come on, Sun. Stop playing hard to get and go out on one date with me." Sunny's widened; did he just ask her out and on the same day they first met? He had to be crazy!

"Uh, I'm flattered by your request, Lenard," Sunny said, looking down. "But I-"

"Settle down everybody!" shouted a loud voice, causing the young adults to wince and cover their ears. Naturally, all the students stopped everything they were doing and sat in their seats. Lenard released Sunny and gave her a flirtatious wave and went to his desk. Relieved, Sunny found her friends' desks and sat in between them. When Sunny looked up, she saw her teacher who was an elderly woman with her gray hair in a tight bun and her thin lips pressed together, forming a frown. "Good afternoon, class," she said. "My name is Ms. Doe." The class, except Sunny, Martha, and Emily, burst out laughing.

"Why are you called that?" one student asked.

"And what's up with the "Miss" title?" questioned another student.

"I bet you've never dated anyone in your life!" howled a third student. This earned another round of laughter, causing Ms. Doe to redden either out of anger or embarrassment. Sunny felt so bad for her poor professor; her name and romantic life was nothing to laugh about and Sunny knew that.

"Well, if you're going to laugh," Ms. Doe said, turning on her heel and walked towards the blackboard, erasing the inappropriate images on it and wrote in complimentary cursive while saying, "laugh at this." Once she was finished, she stood next to it, her arms folded across her chest and her old hazel sparkling with bitter pain. "Write a ten-page report on a famous author and turn it in tomorrow" read the board. All the students let out loud cries of protest, some say how it wasn't fair to that to them and others saying they didn't deserve an assign on the first day. However, Ms. Doe pulled out a metallic ruler and drag it along the blackboard, causing the students to stop their objections and cover their ears. "No more complaining!" snapped Ms. Doe. "Now I have several books on famous authors so there should no reason why you shouldn't have at least three paragraphs done by the end of the class. So hop to it!" Grumbling, the students got up and walked over to the peeved professor's bookshelves. Sunny, Emily, and Martha, however, stayed in their seats, not wanting to push or get pushed to get their books.

"Can you believe her?" Martha asked.

"No," said Emily. "I don't what that bitch's problem is." Sunny frowned.

"It's because she's probably been ridiculed her whole life," she said. Emily and Martha looked at their friend in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Emily questioned.

"Did you see the pain in her eyes?" Sunny queried. "Did you see how hurt she was when those class clowns were making fun of her?" The two friends shook their heads. "I did. And I had never seen such pain in anyone's eyes like that at all. The only thing I feel for the poor woman is pity." There was a dead silence amongst the friends before they spoke again.

"I guess, now that you mentioned it, I never thought about it that way," said Emily, bowing her head in regret. "I'm just quick to judge instead of wanting to get to know somebody first." She laughed bitterly. "Maybe I should stop doing that." Suddenly, a book hit Emily in the head and effectively knocked her out of her seat. Angrily, she grabbed the book, jumped to her feet, and screamed, "WHO THE HELL THREW THIS STINKIN' BOOK AT ME?"

"Now Emily," Martha started, "let's not lose our heads. We mustn't-" Another book flew through the air and hit Martha this time. "OW!" She snatched the book and looked around for the culprit. "Whoever's throwing books at us, stop it!"

"Girls, please calm down," Sunny pleaded, fearing somebody would throw a book at her as well. Instead, an open gently landed on top of her head. Surprised, she looked up and saw Lenard grinning at her.

"Thought you girls might not get any books and decided to throw you some," he said. Emily and Martha successfully restrain themselves from strangling this flirty upperclassman and glanced at their books. Martha had Horatio Algers, Emily had Thomas Paine, and Sunny had Arthur Miller. Sunny stared at her upperclassman suspiciously and opened her book, trying to ignore him the best she could. "So you up for our little date?" Lenard twirled a lock of Sunny's blonde hair between his fingers, trying to get her attention. Emily suddenly slapped Lenard's hand away from her friend.

"Shouldn't you be working on your report?" she asked. Lenard growled, looked at Sunny, winked and gave a little wave, and walked off.

"What a jerk," mumbled Martha, her brown eyes scanning her book's pages.

"I'm sorry," Sunny said with a sly smile. "Did you not say in health class I should go after him?" Annoyed, Martha placed a hand behind Sunny's head and gently pushed it down into the book.

"Just shut up and read, you big chatterbox" she said. Sunny and Emily both giggled and continued their reading. However, Sunny was deeply worried about the situation with her and Lenard. She didn't know what he really wanted with or from her, but whatever plans he had for her, she was _not_ and would never be interested whatever the case may be.


	5. A Serious Squabble

The moment the bell rang, Sunny and her friends jumped out of their chairs and ran out of the door without saying a word to anybody. They had to get out of there because of Ms. Doe and Lenard and the fact that they had to get to their next class, which was on the far side of the campus. Plus, they wanted to talk each other before they were shut up again. "Ugh. My hand hurts from all that writing," moaned Emily.

"Mine hurts more," Martha protested.

"Not possible," Emily said. "You did the same thing I did."

"You obviously weren't paying any attention to me," teased Martha. "_I_ was writing an outline while _you_ were writing the actual assignment."

"You should know she does that, Em," Sunny stated.

"Well, sorry," the redhead said sarcastically. "I haven't studied Martha as much as you have. I actually _live_ my life." Martha stopped walking and faced Emily. She didn't look happy one bit. "I'm kidding, Mar, " Emily laughed. "That and I'm started to get annoyed with college already."

"How typical," Martha said, rolling her eyes.

"First days are just not your friend, are they?" stated Sunny.

"Well, we've never gotten along since elementary school," Emily said, pensively. "The fact that teachers act so demanding and give you all these rules you have to follow is what I don't like on first days."

"I can understand _that_ being frustrating," Sunny said.

"It's the idea that teachers and professors set rules that Emily hates," snickered Martha. It was Emily's turn to stop.

"Excuse me?" she asked, sounding a little angry. "I can't handle rules? Am I the only one with imperfections?" Martha stopped in her tracks and turned on her heel.

"Is there something you're trying to communicate hear?" she demanded. Emily gave her a cruel smile.

"You can't handle a day without a guy lookin' at you in your skanky outfits," she said. "You're so desperate for attention that you'll do anything to show it."

"I haven't done in years," Martha said.

"Really? 'Cause last time I checked, you were still living in a one-room apartment because your own parents rejected you and your promiscuous ways," sneered Emily. Just like that, Martha slapped Emily. Sunny let out a startled cry as Emily hit the wall. She stared at herself in the fountain and saw a red mark on her face. She touched her cheek and winced in pain. "Not bad, Mar," she said. She whirled around and faced Martha. "If memory serves me correctly, you have always screamed at me instead of hitting me."

"Well, if memory serves _me_ correctly, I would always tell Sunny what you said to me!" Martha shouted with a sob forming in her throat. "Now I've finally let you have what I controlled myself from doing for ten years! So don't think that you can talk to me that way anymore! If-IF you ever say anything like that to me again, I'll- I'll-"

"It's okay, Martha," Sunny said comfortingly. "You got your point across." Emily stared at her two friends before she started to smile.

"Bravo, Martha," she whispered. "You finally stood up to me."

"Huh?" Martha was confused; what was she talking about?

"I thought you a goody-two shoes for years, Martha, and that you would never stand up to anyone when they insult you," Emily said. "I've been trying for so long to get you to react to my insults and now, you finally have."

"Wait, you mean you've been insulting me just so I could hit you?" clarified Martha.

"And for the right reasons," stated Emily. "Now, if you ever get angry with that son of a bitch, Lenard, you can hit him without me doing it for you." Martha looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

"Are you too lazy to do it yourself?" she asked in a playful voice.

"Nah, I think you need to learn how to deal with bastards and bitches on your own," her friend replied. "Besides, I think he deserves to be taught a lesson for tossing those books at us and for hitting on Sunny."

"Speaking of which," Martha said, looking at the blonde, "what are you going to do about him?"

"I'll just ignore him," she answered. "I mean, I know that he'll try anything to get my attention, but all I can do is to avoid eye and verbal contact with him."

"Are you sure that'll work?" Emily asked. "He seems pretty persistent with you. A guy like him won't leave you alone that easy."

"Yeah, Sunny," Martha replied. "The second you walk away from us, he'd kidnap you and whisk you away to his dorm."

"Believe me," Sunny said with a smile. "I'll make him leave me alone if I have to eat a ton of food to make myself physically unattractive or wear his least favorite color for the whole year or act and dress like a geek."

"Oh, come on, Sun, don't do that to yourself," pleaded Martha. "You'll just ruin everything about you. Sorry, but you need to come up with another-"

"I got it!" Emily exclaimed. "Do you think that Lenard would leave you alone if he knew you had a boyfriend?"

"Probably," Sunny said, "but I doubt that-"

"Tell him you're already seeing someone," ordered Emily. "Next time you see him."

"But who will I say is the boyfriend?" Sunny had a bad feeling about this; Emily always had ideas that got her friends in trouble.

"Professor Quigley Quagmire," she declared while she wore a mischievous grin on.


End file.
